USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > Ould Newbury: historical and biographical sketches > Part 23
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If your Honour and this honourable Board please to give me leave I would speak a Word or two upon this solemn occasion. Although the unerring Providence of God has brought you to the Chair of Govern- ment in a cloudy and Tempestuous time, yet you have this for your Encouragement, that the People you Have to do with are a part of the Israel of God and you may expect to have of the Prudence and Patience of Moses communicated to you for your Conduct. It is evident that our Almighty Saviour Counselled the first Planters to remove hither and Settle here, and they dutifully followed his Advice, and therefore He will never leave nor forsake them, nor Theirs; so that your Honour must needs be happy in sincerely seeking their Happiness and welfare, which your Birth and Education will incline you to do. Difficilia que pulchra. I promise myself that they who sit at this Board will yield their Faithful Advice to your Honour, according to the Duty of their Place.
The L' Gov" and Council would stand up all the while and they expressed a handsome Acceptance of what I had said. Laus Deo.
In the discharge of the duties of his high office, Governor Dummer pursued a wise and conciliatory policy that won for him the respect and esteem of all who were in favor of good government and an impartial administration of existing laws.
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July 28, 1728, William Burnet, who had been appointed by the king to succeed Samuel Shute as governor of the province, arrived in New England, and assumed the manage- ment of public affairs, with William Dummer as lieutenant- governor.
Governor Burnet died Sept. 7, 1729; and Governor Dum- mer was again at the head of the government until June 30, 1730, when Lieutenant-Governor Tailer was appointed to succeed him. The following congratulatory letter from Judge Sewall to his kinsman is published in volume 2, page 275, of Sewall's Letter Book : -
Hon'd Sir,- These are to congratulat your Honr and this Province upon your Returning again to be their Lieut. Govr and Commander in chief. As the Time is dark and difficult, so I hope God will graciously renew your Strength, and anoint you with fresh oyl, whereby you may be enabled prudently and successfully to manage the very weighty Affairs of the Government, once more devolved upon you by Divine Providence, which cannot err, and will not fail those who Trust therein. I thank God who has Reserved you against this juncture of our Dis- tress. And earnestly praying that the God of Peace, and Truth, and Love, may make your last days in this kind to be your best days, I take leave, who am your Honor's most humble and most obedient Servt.
SAMUEL SEWALL.
BOSTON, September the eleventh, 1729.
To the Honourable William Dummer Esqr, Lieut .- Governour and Com- mander in Chief In and over his Majs Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New-England.
While holding office for this second short term, Governor Dummer presented to the Byfield Parish a silver communion service, on which his name and the family coat-of-arms were inscribed. Of this service only two small communion cups, or chalices, were saved when the meeting-house was burned in 1832.
At the close of his administration as governor he was elected to the council for two years. He then retired to private life. His house in Boston was on School Street, separated from the Province House estate by a six-foot passage-way in the rear. His wife, Katherine (Dudley)
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Dummer, died there Jan. 13, 1752. He died Oct. 16, 1761, and was buried in the Granary burying ground on Tremont Street in that city.
By the terms of his will, recorded in the probate records for Suffolk County, volume 59, page 398, he gave, in trust, to " Rev. Mr. Thomas Foxcroft and Rev. Dr. Charles Chauncy, ministers of the first church in Boston, and Mr. Nathaniel Dummer, of Newbury, in the County of Essex, my dwelling- house and farm and all my real estate lying and being in Newbury," with instructions that the rents should be first ap- propriated and expended in erecting a school-house on the most convenient part of said farm according to the appoint- ment of the minister of the parish and five of the principal inhabitants freeholders of said parish to be elected at the annual meeting of the parish, and that the annual income thereafter should be "appropriated and set apart towards the maintenance of a grammar school master."
In 1762, the first school-house was erected on the Dummer farm at Byfield. It was a low one-story building, about twenty feet square. Dedicatory services were held Feb. 28, 1763. Rev. Moses Parsons, then minister of the parish, preached a sermon appropriate to the occasion from the text, " But the liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand " (Isaiah xxxii. 8).
The next day, March 1, 1763, the school, under the charge of Samuel Moody, of York, Me., as master, commenced its regular sessions. In 1782, an act of incorporation was passed by the General Court, creating a board of trustees and pro- viding for the management and control of the school under the title of "The Trustees of Dummer Academy in the County of Essex."
Master Moody retained his position as instructor until March 25, 1790. Many of his pupils after their graduation became distinguished in political and professional life. He died at Exeter, N. H., Dec. 17, 1790, and was buried in the old graveyard at York, Me. On the stone that marks his grave is the following inscription : --
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Integer vitæ saeterisque purus.
Here lies the remains of Samuel Moody, Esq. Pre- ceptor of Dummer Academy, the first institution of the kind in Massachusetts. He left no children to mourn his sudden death, for he died a bachelor, yet his numerous pupils in the United States will ever retain a lively sense of the sociality, industry, integrity and piety he possessed in an unusual degree, as well as the disinterested, zealous, faithful and useful manner he discharged the duties of the Academy for 30 years. He died at Exeter, N. H., December 17th 1790, aged 70 years.
Since its establishment in 1763, Dummer Academy has had its periods of prosperity and depression, but, after more than one hundred and thirty years of continued existence, it is still in successful operation under the charge of Mr. Perley L. Horne, A. M.
For a more extended account of this institution of learn- ing and the men who have been connected with it as trustees, teachers, and pupils, the reader is referred to the centennial address, delivered by Nehemiah Cleaveland, Aug. 12, 1863, and to the interesting historical paper read by Hon. William D. Northend at the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary, June 19, 1888.
FATHERLAND FARM.
FATHERLAND FARM.
Eben Parsons, the second son of Rev. Moses Parsons, was born in the parsonage at Byfield, Feb. 27, 1745-6. He attended school at Dummer Academy ; and, after completing his studies there, he sought and obtained employment in Gloucester, and soon after became interested in the fisheries, which were at that time exceedingly prosperous and remun- erative. His enterprise and activity brought him in con- tact with men of skill and experience in the foreign and domestic trade. He gradually extended his business, in- vesting his surplus capital in ship property, and ultimately became one of the largest importers of merchandise in the country.
In May, 1767, he married Mary, daughter of Colonel John Gorham, of Barnstable, and a few years later removed to Boston, where he purchased a large and valuable estate on Summer Street, the house and garden occupying all the space between Otis and Devonshire Streets and extending back to Winthrop Square. The finest residences of Boston were in that neighborhood, and noble shade trees with flowering shrubs and spacious gardens gave to the locality an air of comfort and seclusion.
In the rear of Mr. Parsons's house stood a large stable, and in front was an enclosed park, or common, where his two cows were pastured. Drake, in his "Old Landmarks of Boston," says on page 381, " As late as 1815 there was a pasture of two acres in Summer Street, and the tinkling of cow-bells was by no means an uncommon sound there."
For more than thirty years Mr. Parsons made this house his home; and at length, with ample means at his command, he determined to buy the old Dummer place at Newbury
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Falls, and there build a stately summer residence. Sept. 17, 1801, he bought, of Richard Dummer, of Newbury, three parcels of land, the first being bounded and described as follows : -
Northerly on the Falls river, easterly on the road leading from Byfield meeting house to Moody's Mills, south easterly partly on Shubael Dum- mer's land and partly on land belonging to the heirs of William Dummer, deceased, southerly on land belonging to the same heirs, and south- westerly, westerly and northwesterly on the tan-yard creek so called, . . . with house, barn and other buildings thereon (Essex Deeds, book 169, page 293).
Mrs. A. B. Forbes, in a paper read before the Historical Society of Old Newbury in the summer of 1895, and pub- lished in the New England Historical and Genealogical Reg- ister, January, 1896, states that the house now standing at the Fatherland Farm was erected in 1802. The event was a notable one for the inhabitants of that locality ; and the festivities at the raising of the frame, marred by an accident of a somewhat serious nature, are vividly described by Miss Sarah Ann Emery in the Reminiscences of a Nonogenarian, page 73.
Jan. 13, 1803, Mr. Parsons bought of Thomas Smith, of Rowley, twelve acres of land adjoining this estate, bounded by the burying ground and also by land belonging to the parsonage. June 4, 1803, he purchased of Shubael Dummer, and July 6, 1803, of Nathaniel Little, Jr., two parcels of land which he added to his farm (Essex Deeds, book 172, pages 50 and 240).
He continued to reside in Boston for several years after this date, but made frequent visits to his country place, which, " out of regard for his father's memory and love for his native town, he named Fatherland Farm." He expended a large sum of money in building massive walls of hewn stone, seven feet high and three feet thick, about the premises ; in reclaim- ing a large tract of marsh land along the margin of Parker River, below the falls; and in otherwise improving and beau- tifying the house and its surroundings.
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He was deeply interested in agriculture, and was a large contributor in many ways to the advancement of that science, using his commercial facilities in aid of this by the importation of fine breeds of cattle, sheep, and swine for the improvement of American stock, and by bringing from other countries various kinds of seeds, grain, and grasses, as well as scions from foreign fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs.
After the death of his wife, Sept. 10, 1810, he removed from Boston to his farm at Newbury, and there lived until his decease, Nov. 27, 1819. He was buried, with other members of his family, in the old graveyard at Byfield.
His son, Gorham Parsons, born in Gloucester July 27, 1768, was the only surviving child and only heir to the prop- erty. In April, 1790, he married Sarah, daughter of Captain Thomas Parsons, of Newburyport. He resided at Brighton, Mass., until the death of his wife, Dec. 8, 1837, when he sold his estate there, and removed to the Fatherland Farm, where he died Sept. 18, 1844, aged seventy-six. His will, dated Sept. 29, 1842, and proved in the month of November, 1844, provides that the farm, with the dwelling-house and other buildings thereon, shall become the property of Gorham Parsons Sargent, a grand-nephew of his wife, son of Hon. Winthrop Sargent, of Philadelphia, Pa.
May 29, 1862, Gorham Parsons Sargent, of Byfield, sold the property to Benjamin F. Brown, of Waltham ; and a few weeks later, July 7, 1862, it was sold at public auction by the last-named owner to Benjamin B. Poole, of Boston, for $7,300 (book 640, pages 31 and 50).
Nov. 30, 1877, Benjamin B. Poole sold the farm with the buildings thereon to Jacob B. Stevens, of Peabody (book 988, page 194) ; and Oct. 24, 1881, Mr. Stevens conveyed the property to Mrs. Susan E. P. Forbes, wife of Alexander B. Forbes, of Springfield, Mass. (book 1068, page 176).
Mrs. Forbes is a descendant of Susanna Parsons, who was a sister of Eben Parsons, the founder of the Father- land Farm. Mrs. Forbes, with the advice and assistance of her husband, has made some decided improvements in the external appearance of the place during the past fifteen years, especially in the removal of the old barn that formerly stood
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directly opposite the house. The view of the surrounding country is now much more extended, and the old homestead seems to have regained something of its old-time stateliness, while everything about the grounds betokens tender and appreciative care.
THEOPHILUS PARSONS.
In the old parsonage house at Byfield there was born Feb. 24, 1750, to Rev. Moses Parsons and his wife Susan, a third son. This son was christened Theophilus .* He was prepared for college by Master Moody at Dummer Academy, and graduated at Harvard College in 1769. He afterward studied law with Theophilus Bradbury at Falmouth, now Portland, Me., and was admitted to practice there in 1774.
In October, 1775, some English ships-of-war almost totally destroyed Portland; and Theophilus Parsons returned to Byfield, and found at his father's house Judge Edmund Trowbridge, of Cambridge, an eminent lawyer, with loyalist tendencies, who had come to Byfield to escape the violence of the watchful " Sons of Liberty." With the aid and assist- ance of this learned judge, young Parsons made, during the next two years, a thorough and exhaustive study of the principles of common law, and applied himself so assiduously to the work that his health for a time was seriously impaired.
After a few weeks of rest and recreation he opened a law office in Newburyport. At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town, held March 27, 1778, Theophilus Parsons, Tristram Dalton, Jonathan Greenleaf, Jonathan Jackson, and Stephen Cross were chosen delegates to the convention held at Ipswich in April of that year for the consideration of ques- tions relating to the principles and provisions of the proposed constitution for the State of Massachusetts.
* An old almanac in which the events of the day were noted by Rev. Mr. Parsons contains the following account of an interesting incident : -
"Theophilus strayed away and was lost June 30, 1753, and after much seeking was found in Mr. Woodman's Pasture where he had laid down to sleep. May he be found indeed by ye Grace of God, and ye kind Shephard yt loves ye Lambs of his Fold. May there be greater Joy in Heav'n at his conversion than there was with his Parents whn yy rec'd him safe and sound as Life from ye dead."
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Mr. Parsons, though then a young man of twenty-eight, wrote the exceedingly able and logical report that was adopted by the convention, published in pamphlet form, and widely circulated throughout the State under the title of "The Result of the Convention of Delegates holden at Ipswich, in the County of Essex, who were deputed to take into Consideration the Constitution and Form of Govern- ment proposed by the Convention of the State of Massa- chusetts Bay." This famous report is known in history as " The Essex Result."
Early in the year 1779, Hon. Benjamin Greenleaf, judge of probate for Essex County, who then lived on the corner of Washington and Titcomb streets, said to his daughter Eliza- beth that on a cer- tain day she must THEOPHILUS PARSONS. provide dinner for a few friends whom he named ; and among the number was "Mr. Parsons." "Do you mean Mr. Parsons whom everybody is talking about ?" said Miss Elizabeth. "Why, I shall not dare to utter a word." "Well," answered the judge, "you need not. He will talk for you and himself, too, if you wish it." The sequel shows that "he talked then and afterward well enough to win a suit which he used to say was worth all the others he had ever gained in his life; for in less than a year after that dinner he married, Jan. 13, 1780, Miss Elizabeth Greenleaf."
At this time his law business was prosperous, and his position in the social and political world was well established. Students from distant towns, attracted by his professional
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ability and intellectual superiority, came to him for advice and instruction. Rufus King, born in Scarboro, Me., and afterward senator to congress from the State of New York, was for several years a student in his office, and in 1782 and 1783 was elected warden of St. Paul's Church. He also represented Newburyport in the legislature of 1783, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1788.
John Quincy Adams, afterward president of the United States, and Robert Treat Paine, son of the signer of the Declaration of Independence, of the same name, were fitted and prepared for the practice of law under the care and direction of Mr. Parsons. A poem, somewhat satirical in tone, but still a graceful contribution to the literature of that day, entitled " A Vision," written by John Q. Adams, created considerable excitement and some consternation among the young ladies of Newburyport, who, under fictitious names, were described in glowing language by the poet. The theme and its treatment indicate that the gifted author was not entirely indifferent to the fascinations and attractions of the opposite sex, and occasionally found in female society a relief from the tedium of long-continued study.
In 1788, a convention of delegates from the various towns in Massachusetts assembled in Boston to determine whether the Federal constitution should be adopted or rejected by the State. Theophilus Parsons was a member of the con- vention with Jonathan Titcomb, Benjamin Greenleaf, and Rufus King from Newburyport, and Ebenezer March, Enoch Sawyer, and Tristram Dalton from Newbury.
The proceedings of the convention were of great impor- tance, and were so regarded throughout the country at that time. It was thought at the beginning of the session that a majority of the delegates were opposed to the adoption of the constitution. John Hancock and Samuel Adams were the two most important members of the convention. "It was generally supposed that, while they were not friendly to each other, they agreed in a decided leaning against the constitution ; and, if both, or if either, had become pro-
THE THEOPHILUS PARSONS HOUSE, 1850.
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THEOPHILUS PARSONS
fessedly and actively hostile to it, its adoption would prob- ably have been impossible."
The means and methods by which Hancock and Adams, on whom so much depended, were brought over to support the friends of the constitution, are given with great clearness in the memoir of Chief-Justice Parsons, written by his son, Prof. Theophilus Parsons, and published in 1859. The amendments, or conciliatory resolutions as they are some- times called, offered by Hancock and adopted by the con- vention, were carefully prepared by Parsons; and at his suggestion, or through his influence, Hancock was prevailed upon to support them with a brief speech, and so gain credit with the Federalists for saving the constitution. Samuel Adams declared himself satisfied with the proposed amend- ments ; and, after a brief debate, a vote was taken which resulted in a majority of nineteen in favor of the adoption of the constitution out of a total of three hundred and fifty-five votes. The plan, devised by Theophilus Parsons, had its desired effect ; and the difficulties and dangers apprehended from an adverse action of the convention were averted by his political skill and sagacity.
After the adoption of the constitution he gave but little time or attention to politics. His professional duties called him frequently to the principal towns and cities of New England and occasionally to New York and Washington. He occupied his leisure hours with books and social converse at his own house, seldom attending a public meeting of any kind during the last twenty years of his life.
May 2, 1789, he bought of Benjamin Greenleaf seventy-six square rods of land on the corner of Green and Union (now Washington) streets, bounded on the northwesterly and southwesterly sides by land of the grantor. At the time of this sale all the land now included between Green, Washing- ton, Court, and High streets was the property of Benjamin Greenleaf, to whom it was conveyed by Nathaniel Tracy Dec. 19, 1783 (book 145, page 145, and book 151, page 122).
On the land purchased in 1789, Theophilus Parsons built a large and substantial house, with stables adjoining. A low,
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one-story building on the easterly corner of the lot was used as a law office. The dwelling-house is still standing in a good state of preservation, though somewhat modernized by recent owners.
The view that accompanies this sketch is taken from a drawing made by Francis Thurlow. The artist has practi- cally reproduced the house as it was when owned and occu- pied by Benjamin Hale, previous to 1850. At that date no changes or alterations had been made, and it stood sub- stantially as it was when first built. The descriptive details for the sketch were furnished by Mr. Moses E. Hale, who lived with his father in the house at the date above men- tioned.
Hon. Benjamin Greenleaf, father of Mrs. Parsons, died Jan. 13, 1799 ; and the following year Mr. Parsons removed with his family to Boston. He occupied a house on Brom- field Street until 1801, when he bought a fine estate on the easterly side of Pearl Street.
April 25, 1803, he sold his house, stable, and lands in Newburyport to Leonard Smith (Essex Deeds, book 179, page 198).
The subsequent conveyances of this property are as follows : -
March 23, 1809, Leonard Smith to John Peabody, of New- buryport (book 186, page 29).
Dec. 31, 1810, John Peabody to Leonard Smith (book 192, page 164).
Jan. 2, 1811, Leonard Smith to Nathaniel Smith (book 192, page 168).
Jan. 22, 1813, execution in favor of Michael Little, New- buryport Marine Insurance Company, and others (Executions, book No. I, page 288).
April 29, 1814, Newburyport Marine Insurance Company to Oliver Prescott (book 204, page 145).
Jan. I, 1814, Ebenezer Wheelwright, Paul Thurlo, and David Moody to Oliver Prescott (book 204, and pages 49 and 50).
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June 21, 1828, Charles Prescott, mariner, Harriet Prescott, Caroline Prescott, and Anna Prescott, all of Boston, 19/24 of land and buildings to Sarah Hale, wife of Benjamin Hale, of Newburyport (book 250, page 5).
Sept. 22, 1828, Lucy O. Prescott, of Boston, 5/24 of land and buildings to Sarah, wife of Benjamin Hale, of Newbury- port (book 250, page 61).
March 7, 1832, Benjamin Hale and wife Sarah to Eunice W. Hale (book 265, page 132).
March 7, 1832, Eunice W. Hale to Benjamin Hale (book 265, page 132).
Feb. 10, 1851, Moses E. Hale, executor of the will of Benjamin Hale, to Henry Johnson (book 440, page 144).
June 1, 1852, Moses E. Hale, trustee under the will of Benjamin Hale, to Henry Johnson (book 461, page 174).
June 7, 1852, Henry Johnson to Elizabeth LeBreton Wills (book 461, page 174).
April 13, 1885, Elizabeth LeBreton Wills, widow, to Nathaniel Dole, of New York (book 1147, page 44).
July 5, 1886, Nathaniel Dole to Archbishop John J. Williams, of Boston (book 1176, page 182).
Since 1886 there has been no change in ownership. The house is at present occupied by the Sisters of Charity in connection with their work in the parochial school of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Newburyport.
In 1806, Chief-Justice Dana resigned the position that he had honorably filled for fourteen years, and Theophilus Par- sons was appointed to the office thus made vacant. At the earnest solicitation of friends he accepted the appointment, and served as chief justice of the supreme court of Massa- chusetts until his death, Oct. 30, 1813.
In the summer of that year he complained of ill-health and lack of strength and vitality. During his last illness his mind remained for a time unimpaired, then drowsiness deepened into lethargy. His thoughts, when he could no longer control them, went back to his professional and judi- cial duties. When he spoke, it was as a judge giving answers
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and directions. After a long and painful silence, when he seemed to have lost the power of articulation, he suddenly revived, and with perfect distinctness said : “Gentlemen of the jury, the case is closed, and in your hands. You will please retire, and agree upon your verdict." He then quietly and peacefully breathed his last.
PIPE STAVE HILL.
In the division of the upper commons, so called, among the freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Newbury, in 1686, the first division of the freehold lots began at the Emery farm just above the Artichoke River, each lot stretch- ing from the Merrimack River to the Bradford road. In this division, lot No. 12 was given to William Chandler for William Berry's freehold right. It was bounded on its west- erly side by a four-rod highway to Indian River landing-place. Lot No. 13, on the westerly side of this way, was allotted to Joseph Knight for Richard Littlehale's freehold right.
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